Letters to the Editor for Oct. 26, 2012

Gov. Rick Scott

File photo

Published: Friday, October 26, 2012 at 6:01 a.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, October 24, 2012 at 10:58 p.m.

What is Scott's plan for funding Medicaid?

Gov. Scott and several other southern governors have said they will reject the expansion of Medicaid provided by the Affordable Care Act, which would help provide coverage for low-income childless adults, because of the financial burden on the state in the future.

The federal government will pay the full cost of expansion through 2016 and a portion thereafter, yet these governors choose not to help their own citizens.

I would like Gov. Scott to respond to Monday's debate in which Mitt Romney said he planned to move Medicaid from joint federal/state to state-only control.

Currently the federal government pays on average 57 percent of Medicaid expenses. Much of Florida's financial resources already go to Medicaid. What is Florida's plan to cover this gigantic new expense?

Rachel Shireman,

Waldo

Mitt ‘Etch-a-Sketch'

We have now seen Mitt Romney through three debates, comically fleeing at a dead run from everything he said during the primaries.

He is, as his campaign staffer famously said last summer, the embodiment of the “Etch-a-Sketch.” Nowhere is this truer than his novel portrayal of the kinder, gentler, the “peacemaker,” Mitt Romney in the foreign policy debate.

Despite his attempts to present an array of reasonable positions on foreign relations, we should remember that his team of foreign policy advisers comes straight out of the neo-con crew that brought us the unmitigated disaster of the Iraq war.

Tony Oliver-Smith,

Gainesville

Amendment 8 mixes government and faith

Amendment 8 on the Nov. 6 ballot is misleading and unwise.

This would in essence repeal the state constitution provision that has prohibited direct or indirect state funding of churches and other religious organizations since 1885 and re-ratified three times (most recently in 1997).

The language of Amendment 8 suggests that the measure is necessary to prevent discrimination against religious entities seeking state aid to provide educational and other social services. In fact, the state government already successfully partners with religiously affiliated organizations to provide such services.

Government funding of religious education itself, as Amendment 8 infers, will jeopardize the autonomy of private religious schools, inviting regulations and bringing political pressures that threaten the schools' religious character. Amendment 8 would open the door to this kind of state funding and interference into religious institutions.

Vote NO on Amendment 8, and preserve separation of religious schools and state.

Lynwood Walters,

Gainesville

Rep. Issa's security breach risks lives

Once again the GOP has put party politics above national security.

Republican Rep. Darrell Issa's latest stunt to try and embarrass the president has put countless lives in jeopardy and compromised U.S. security in a most dangerous part of the world.

Like Mitt Romney making a wildly inaccurate statement without bothering to know all the facts, Issa, in a rush to score political points and seize the political spotlight, attempts to sully President Obama's reputation with his antic as chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Issa's recent document dump of State Department records subpoenaed during his committee's recent investigation of the assassination of Ambassador Christopher Stevens has exposed Libyan nationals who have step forward to helped the U.S. at great personal risk.

Issa's irresponsible actions has given aid and comfort to our enemies by identifying those brave Libyans who dared to embrace American ideals of freedom.

Stephen Bottomly,

Gainesville

Get your own sign, leave mine alone

I had a political sign in my front yard by my mailbox. Someone, I assume who isn't for my candidate, has stolen the sign. I really don't appreciate that.

They are free for the taking, you just have to go get them. If you don't like who I like then get your own sign and leave mine alone.

I'm going to put another one or two up. Just remember, it is trespassing when you enter someone's yard. We have posted signs up also.

<p><b>What is Scott's plan for funding Medicaid?</b></p><p>Gov. Scott and several other southern governors have said they will reject the expansion of Medicaid provided by the Affordable Care Act, which would help provide coverage for low-income childless adults, because of the financial burden on the state in the future.</p><p>The federal government will pay the full cost of expansion through 2016 and a portion thereafter, yet these governors choose not to help their own citizens.</p><p>I would like Gov. Scott to respond to Monday's debate in which Mitt Romney said he planned to move Medicaid from joint federal/state to state-only control.</p><p>Currently the federal government pays on average 57 percent of Medicaid expenses. Much of Florida's financial resources already go to Medicaid. What is Florida's plan to cover this gigantic new expense?</p><p><i>Rachel Shireman,</p><p>Waldo</i></p><p><b>Mitt 'Etch-a-Sketch'</b></p><p>We have now seen Mitt Romney through three debates, comically fleeing at a dead run from everything he said during the primaries. </p><p>He is, as his campaign staffer famously said last summer, the embodiment of the “Etch-a-Sketch.” Nowhere is this truer than his novel portrayal of the kinder, gentler, the “peacemaker,” Mitt Romney in the foreign policy debate.</p><p>Despite his attempts to present an array of reasonable positions on foreign relations, we should remember that his team of foreign policy advisers comes straight out of the neo-con crew that brought us the unmitigated disaster of the Iraq war.</p><p><i>Tony Oliver-Smith,</p><p>Gainesville</i></p><p><b>Amendment 8 mixes government and faith</b></p><p>Amendment 8 on the Nov. 6 ballot is misleading and unwise. </p><p>This would in essence repeal the state constitution provision that has prohibited direct or indirect state funding of churches and other religious organizations since 1885 and re-ratified three times (most recently in 1997).</p><p>The language of Amendment 8 suggests that the measure is necessary to prevent discrimination against religious entities seeking state aid to provide educational and other social services. In fact, the state government already successfully partners with religiously affiliated organizations to provide such services. </p><p>Government funding of religious education itself, as Amendment 8 infers, will jeopardize the autonomy of private religious schools, inviting regulations and bringing political pressures that threaten the schools' religious character. Amendment 8 would open the door to this kind of state funding and interference into religious institutions.</p><p>Vote NO on Amendment 8, and preserve separation of religious schools and state.</p><p><i>Lynwood Walters,</p><p>Gainesville</i></p><p><b>Rep. Issa's security breach risks lives</b></p><p>Once again the GOP has put party politics above national security.</p><p>Republican Rep. Darrell Issa's latest stunt to try and embarrass the president has put countless lives in jeopardy and compromised U.S. security in a most dangerous part of the world. </p><p>Like Mitt Romney making a wildly inaccurate statement without bothering to know all the facts, Issa, in a rush to score political points and seize the political spotlight, attempts to sully President Obama's reputation with his antic as chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.</p><p>Issa's recent document dump of State Department records subpoenaed during his committee's recent investigation of the assassination of Ambassador Christopher Stevens has exposed Libyan nationals who have step forward to helped the U.S. at great personal risk.</p><p>Issa's irresponsible actions has given aid and comfort to our enemies by identifying those brave Libyans who dared to embrace American ideals of freedom.</p><p><i>Stephen Bottomly,</p><p>Gainesville</i></p><p><b>Get your own sign, leave mine alone</b></p><p>I had a political sign in my front yard by my mailbox. Someone, I assume who isn't for my candidate, has stolen the sign. I really don't appreciate that.</p><p>They are free for the taking, you just have to go get them. If you don't like who I like then get your own sign and leave mine alone.</p><p>I'm going to put another one or two up. Just remember, it is trespassing when you enter someone's yard. We have posted signs up also. </p><p><i>Lora Taylor,</p><p>Hawthorne</i></p>